Question #2: "Describe 3 legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears."
(I am going to go a step further in my answers by sharing with you how I deal with my fears...)
Wikipedia defines "Fear" as a distressing negative sensation induced by a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger.
When I think of the word "Fear" I think "entrapment" and "consumed"...
I would love to answer this question and say, "Fear? I fear nothing! I laugh in the face of fear! I fear only my God in that He is my disciplinarian...I fear failing Him."
But the truth is that I fear many things.
Cancer...that is a legitimate fear of mine, and rightly so if I do say so myself. After all, I have battled cancer on SEVEN different occasions. I have also been surrounded by cancer within my family, with the outcome of death in more than one case. Cancer is an ugly disease and because cancer has "consumed" and "trapped" me in the past, I have a fear that it will be my demise. How do I deal with my fear of cancer? To begin, you should know that I don't really "deal" with any of my fears, meaning that I still harbor fear...I am not "cured" of fear. BUT...I do have the ability within my fears to "Be still and know that He is God..." ~Psalm 46:10 (my favorite verse). When I feel fear rising within me I pray...
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.
I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." ~John 14:27
I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." ~John 14:27
Losing control...another legitimate fear. Don't we all fear losing control? Are we not all control freaks? I think my need to be in control stems from my parents' divorce. I was seven years old and I can specifically remember feeling like life as I knew it was spinning, spiraling downwards into a deep, dark hole. I felt alone, I was afraid, confusion circled around me...I was out of control. When I think back I believe that in those moments I clung to false beliefs that if I had control nothing bad would ever happen. Years later, as a Christian, I have learned that when you give God control, you are accepting the truth. The truth that you cannot do anything without Christ! The Lord wants to use me and He has a plan for my life...
Don't laugh at my last fear...and in all honesty and sincerity, I mean no disrespect....
I have a fear of midgets. Seriously, I fear "little people." I know exactly where this legitimate fear stems from...the movie "Foul Play" starring Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn circa 1978. I was four years old. The movie has an albino man and a midget and the midget FREAKED me out. He wasn't even a mean midget...he was just a salesman, but Goldie Hawn's character was frightened of him...and so was I. If I encounter a midget or even see a midget from afar, I become frozen in fear. How do I deal with my fear of midgets? I don't. I honestly cannot find anything biblical that will help me not be afraid of midgets. I can't even find a midget in the Bible....because that might help...not really.
Three legitimate fears. Three "perceived" threats, as the definition states...
I have to say that coming up with just three was really difficult...
...I could go on and on if we could list things like spiders, snakes, cockroaches, worms, monkeys that have pink bottoms, water that I can't see through, tornados, birds and squirrels.
Oh yeah, and balloons. Balloons frighten me, but that's a-whole-nother post.
Zacchaeus was a short man. The Bible doesn't ever say exactly how short but it had to be pretty short for him to need to climb a tree to see Jesus. Luke 19:1-10. Maybe reading through that will help with your fear?
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